Israel recovers bodies of six captives killed shortly before being found
Gaza (Quds News Network)- The Israeli military claimed it recovered the bodies of six Israeli captives held in Gaza, including one American citizen. They were killed about a day or two before they were found in Rafah, Israeli media reported.
Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, claimed that Hamas “brutally murdered” the six captives whose bodies were found in Rafah “a short while before we reached them”.
“Their bodies were found during the fighting in Rafah, in a tunnel, about a kilometer away from the tunnel from which we rescued Farhan al-Qadi a few days ago,” he said in a news conference.
The Times of Israel, citing the Israeli military, also reported that the six were killed about a day or two before they were found.
They included that of four men and two women. They are Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lubnov, 32, Almog Sarusi, 25, and Carmel Gat, 40.
The bodies of Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Master Sergeant Ori Danino were found and recovered yesterday.
They were all taken hostage on October 7 and were murdered by the Hamas terrorist organization while in captivity… pic.twitter.com/9VWYHNX0Ks
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 1, 2024
Axios, citing Israeli officials, said it is still unclear when and how the captives were killed but some of them were still alive in recent months.
The recovery operation took place on Saturday afternoon local time but it took many hours to officially identify the bodies and notify the families, Axios reported.
On Saturday, the Israeli military issued a short and general statement that they found several bodies in Gaza.
The statement created an unprecedented uproar among the captives’ families, who called for mass protest against Netanyahu on Sunday.
“Netanyahu abandoned the hostages. This is now a fact. Starting tomorrow the country will tremble. We call on the public to prepare. We will bring the country to a halt. The abandonment is over,” the Hostage Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement on Saturday.
